Yes, it was clear that the man had had his reasons for the actions that he had taken – all men did, and Altaïr would have been honestly surprised if Tamir had not – but merely having reasons did not, in the end, mean that those reasons were the right ones. As the two of them made their way back into the Bureau's main room, Altaïr wondered for a moment if Alnesr would tell the truth of what had transpired between them and Tamir.
Then, thinking back on how the Rafiq had acted when the two of them had left, Altaïr wondered if the younger Assassin would have the chance to speak at all.
"Word has reached me of your victory, Alnesr," the Rafiq said, his gaze seeming to pass over Altaïr entirely. "You have my gratitude, and my respect. I am certain that your Apprentice has learned a great deal from you."
"Thank you, brother," Alnesr said.
"I am sure that the other Assassins will be just as pleased to hear of your progress, as well," the Rafiq said; Altaïr could not quite tell if he was mocking Alnesr or not, but he felt rather indignant on the younger Assassin's behalf, all the same. "You should return, and bring news of your victory to Al Mualim. After you have taken some rest, of course. Taking one's first life is a tiring thing, I hear."
"Thank you for your hospitality, Rafiq," Alnesr said, nodding to the man. "It is becoming rather late; I think I will sleep for the night."
"Come, then," he said, gesturing for the younger Assassin to follow him. "Let's get settled."
The two of them left the Bureau's man room, making their way back to the pile of cushions and blankets that had served as their bedding the night before. Alnesr seemed rather pensive again, and Altaïr knew without words just what it was that was troubling the younger Assassin.
"I doubt the Rafiq would have been willing to let you speak, even if you had tried," he said, smiling gently as he rested his hand on Alnesr's right shoulder. "You've no need to concern yourself with my pride. Only remember: the next task will be yours."
"I know, Altaïr. And, thank you," Alnesr smiled, and Altaïr clapped the younger Assassin strongly on his right shoulder.
After that, the two of them settled down into the pile of cushions, each leaning against the other for the small extra comfort that such an action provided.
The next morning found him up just before Alnesr, as had always seemed to be the way such things were done; he rather thought that such was the way things would always be between the two of them, but Altaïr was forced to admit to himself that even such a small thing as that could change in the future. When Alnesr rose, and the two of them had finished breaking fast, Altaïr let the younger Assassin proceed him out of the Bureau, and the two of them met up on the rooftops again.
Leaving Damascus was somewhat more fraught than entering it had been, owing to the alertness of the guards in the wake of Tamir's death, but the skills that they had been taught during their respective lifetimes as Assassins proved true once more. Blending with another group of wandering scholars, Altaïr suppressed a satisfied smile as he and Alnesr finally made their way out of Damascus.
Their horses were tethered in the same place, both beasts looking well enough for the day that they had spent being tended by those outside of Masyaf. Mounting up beside Alnesr once more, Altaïr finally allowed his smile to show. Alnesr would know what he meant by it.
Their return journey was nearly the same as the one that had brought them to Damascus in the first place, and yet it felt different. Still, Altaïr thought that it was simply because he knew what was coming, both when he and Alnesr returned to make their report to Master Mualim, and also once they had been sent out after the second of the nine men that their Master wished them to rid the world of.
They stopped in the shade of the same oasis that they had stayed in during their journey to Damascus, feeding and watering both the horses and themselves before bedding down for the night. Rising with the sun, they continued on their way. As the ground passed by beneath them, Altaïr found himself watching Alnesr as closely as he could while attending to the needs of their journey.
He also found himself reflecting back on the journey that the two of them had made, from the day that he had first heard Alnesr's desperate cries in the poor district of Jerusalem. Seeing a child, not even old enough to walk, being dangled by his ankles over a fire pit by a man who had long and loudly denounced his murdered mother as a whore of Shaitan and the child as his spawn, had driven Altaïr to depths of fury that he did not know if he would ever feel again.
Alnesr – though the babe had not had any name that Altaïr had known at the time – had been an innocent, and seeing the teachings of Al Mualim and the Assassins mocked so openly, though it had been clear even then that those people in the square had not been of the Brotherhood, had drove Altaïr to take his first life.
Smashing every nearby pot that he could lay his hands to into the man's face had driven him back, far enough from the fire pit that he had been able to grab Alnesr and wrench the babe from the grip of the madman who had meant to kill him. He'd wrapped the babe in his own robes, hushing him briefly before his attention had been forcibly returned to the madman. Master Mualim's teachings had given him the skill to knock the man to the ground, and a large rock had provided him the means to end the man's life.
When he'd stood over the man, looking down at the bloody ruin that had once been his face, Altaïr's only thoughts had been for the babe whose life he had redeemed with his actions.
That had been how the Master and Abbas had found him: a madman dead by his hand, and a strange babe with pale yellow eyes in his arms.
He had been required to give an accounting of his actions, of course; still, when the Master had learned of what he had borne witness to, he had agreed that any true member of the Brotherhood would have acted the same under the circumstances. He had also decreed that, as the one to act in defense of the babe, he was then responsible for the life he had saved. Altaïr had, in fact, been the one to give Alnesr the name that every one of the Brotherhood knew him by.
Of course, for the first few years of Alnesr's life, Altaïr had been almost as much of a nursemaid as the women that the Master had brought in to feed Alnesr. Then, when the boy had grown enough to be able to eat more solid foods, the Master had dismissed the women that had once helped to tend to him, saying that it now fell to Altaïr himself to see that Alnesr was taken care of. When Altaïr had asked after the Master's purpose, he had said that while taking a life was simple enough considering the work that the Assassins were called upon to do, redeeming one was not simple at all.
From that day, Alnesr had become just as much his student as he had been the Master's.
At one point, Abbas had been as close as a brother to him, and so naturally he had fallen into the role of an uncle to Alnesr. The three of them had taken lessons together, and eventually Alnesr's skill had grown to the point where he had been able to take lessons with them and Labib. Altaïr had been proud, to know that his teachings had been so well received by the boy that he had raised.
And now, Alnesr had taken his place among the ranks of the Brotherhood; the boy had become a man.
The two of them made their way up to the village under the shadow of Masyaf, and Altaïr saw Alnesr straightening in his saddle as he looked up at the headquarters of the Brotherhood. A hint of uncertainty lingered in the younger Assassin's expression, but Altaïr knew that such was only natural under the circumstances. There were times that even he did not know just what the Master desired of him.
Leaving their horses in the care of the stable hands within the village, Altaïr fell into step beside Alnesr as the two of them made their way back up the mountain to the fortress itself.
"I heard that you had both returned," Rauf said, his eyes practically alight as he greeted the two of them. "Is it true? Has Alnesr truly gained the rank of a full Assassin?"
"It is," Alnesr said, lifting his right hand to display his hidden blade and bracer that he had been given, and also the missing ring finger that all full Assassins possessed.
Rauf smiled all the wider. "How proud you must be of him, Altaïr. Will you tell me of your mission after you report to the Master?"
"If we are given the time," he said, when it became clear that Alnesr's thoughts had returned to what he would say to the Master when they made their report.
"Yes, of course," Rauf said, looking over the both of them once more, smiling in shared pride. "I'll leave you to your duties. Safety and peace, brothers."
"On you as well, Rauf," Alnesr said, his attention clearly having returned to the present.
"Good fortune in your future missions, Alnesr," Rauf called, turning and making his way back to the training grounds where he spent much of his time.
"Thank you, brother," Alnesr called back, as he and Altaïr fell into step once more, on their way up to the Master's study.
Making their way through the fortress, he and Alnesr had soon found their way back to the Master's study. Master Mualim was waiting for them behind his desk, watching their approach with quietly assessing eyes. Retrieving the feather from his robes, Alnesr handed it to the Master when he held out his hand.